From the photos below we are sure you will agree that a visit to the Inverkeithing Highland Games is a must.

Games of sorts have been a feature of life in Inverkeithing for many years, linked to the Royal Burgh’s Lammas Fair Celebrations, described in the Burgh records of 1652 as “…a great day for fun, frolic, fit races, ale and drunken folks, gentle and simple”!

Just how far back the Games go in their present ‘Highland’ format is not known precisely, although we know that it was earlier than the Great War of 1914-18, with the location being the Kirkgate Park, Belleknowes. This site served as the home of the Games between the wars and in the post Second War period, interrupted only by hostilities (elsewhere!) until the weather took its toll, draining the Games finances over several years, finally bringing things to a halt in 1967.

Following a ‘moratorium’ of only five years a local group of Games enthusiasts got together in early 1970 to mount a wide-ranging series of fund-raising events to pull in enough cash to get the show back on the road.

Two years later, in 1972, former Provost Jim Fraser had the privilege – as Games Chieftain – of welcoming a large gathering to the Ballast Bank, thereby restoring the Royal Burgh’s links with the Games tradition. Inverkeithing was back on the map.

Since then the Games have gone from strength to strength, the result of hard work and sensible stewardship by the Committee, wonderful local support, generous sponsorship… and a fair crack of the whip from ‘Him upstairs’so far as the weather is concerned! Nowadays it is commonplace to have crowds of between 4000 and 5000 on the Ballast Bank to enjoy a varied programme of track and field activities, heavyweight events, tug-o-war, pipe bands and highland dancing. Things may have changed, but those of us associated with the event firmly believe that it is still “… a great day for fun, frolic, fit races, ale and drunken folks, gentle and simple.”